Is EE worth $1000 more?

[cari12]

We have been here since Monday and EMH has worked well for us on the DCA days. We used the wide right and were on RSR by the 15 minute mark both days. DL however is another story! If you are not near the front at rope drop(and I admit this trip we were not), you will stand in lines. By the 30 minute mark, many of the rides are 20 minutes or longer waits so the number of rides you get through in the hour is less. And as usual, the park only gets busier as time passes. I think this is because you are getting EMH people and MM people all at once and that is a lot!

 

[rramstad]

We have been here since Monday and EMH has worked well for us on the DCA days. We used the wide right and were on RSR by the 15 minute mark both days. DL however is another story! If you are not near the front at rope drop(and I admit this trip we were not), you will stand in lines. By the 30 minute mark, many of the rides are 20 minutes or longer waits so the number of rides you get through in the hour is less. And as usual, the park only gets busier as time passes. I think this is because you are getting EMH people and MM people all at once and that is a lot!

That was our experience too. We had one MM and used it at DL. That was one of the worst mornings we had on the entire trip. By comparison the day before was ridiculously light... on that day from 8 AM to about 9:30 AM we did all of FL, Matterhorn x 2, ST and SM, Indy, PoTC, Splash. For the MM we got four rides in (!) from 7 AM to 8 AM.

 

[mydisneymoney]

That was our experience too. We had one MM and used it at DL. That was one of the worst mornings we had on the entire trip. By comparison the day before was ridiculously light... on that day from 8 AM to about 9:30 AM we did all of FL, Matterhorn x 2, ST and SM, Indy, PoTC, Splash. For the MM we got four rides in (!) from 7 AM to 8 AM.

I am leaning away from spending an extra $1000 to stay on site so if that is the case then we will have MM to use at DL. Now, I can use it on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday as we will be there all of those days. The posted hours for DL on Tuesday and Thursday is 10am with MM being at 9am. They haven't posted Saturday yet but lets say it is 8am with MM being at 7am. Which day would you use your MM? I am concerned about T/Th because with such a late opening it isn't difficult for people to get out of bed and be there in time for MM at 9am which makes the morning busy (That has been my experience in the past). However, as PP just said, the 7am MM didn't stop people from using it. So, which morning to use MM???

 

[DLR29]

I am leaning away from spending an extra $1000 to stay on site so if that is the case then we will have MM to use at DL. Now, I can use it on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday as we will be there all of those days. The posted hours for DL on Tuesday and Thursday is 10am with MM being at 9am. They haven't posted Saturday yet but lets say it is 8am with MM being at 7am. Which day would you use your MM? I am concerned about T/Th because with such a late opening it isn't difficult for people to get out of bed and be there in time for MM at 9am which makes the morning busy (That has been my experience in the past). However, as PP just said, the 7am MM didn't stop people from using it. So, which morning to use MM???

My advice from the Early Admission Superthread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403

Which day of our trip should we go to EA?
Generally if there are two EA days offered during your trip, but you only have 1 MM to use, the best day to use it would be the first possible day. So if you were going to the parks for a very long weekend (Saturday-Tuesday) and you only had 1 MM, you would have to choose to use it on Saturday, Sunday, or Tuesday. My recommendation is to use it on Saturday because by the end of your trip you WILL be more tired and less inclined to wake up early.

Also, even though crowds on Saturdays and Sundays will be greater, it is better to choose these days (if possible) than weekdays during offseasons. This is true because the parks open sometimes 2 hours earlier on the weekends than on the weekdays and less people will be inclined to get up for EA at 7AM on a Saturday than 9AM on a Tuesday.

If your first possible MM day is Saturday, I'd easily say use it on Sat. If you are ending your trip on Saturday it will be more difficult. In that case I would just say use it on Tuesday unless you can really go to bed early on Friday night and get some good rest before a very early morning on Saturday. It really does get harder and harder to wake up early after the parks tire you out.

There will be lots of people there for MM any day of the week. Don't expect to show up 5 min before MM begins and have no lines to get in. So any day that you use it, make sure to arrive 20-30 min before MM begins and you should be fine.

 

[dadofnicholas]

It's also worth it for me - I struggle between staying at the GCH and PPH given the cost difference. DLH is just too far for my little one - never used a stroller though.

Here's why it is worth it for me (repeat reasons I'm sure). Although my little guy is a trooper (e.g., gets up early, lines up patiently, doesn't make a fuss in the cue or park in general), I don't want to expose him to a long line wait. Our longest wait at any ride was perhaps 15 minutes - 25 minutes at most at gate/entrance to Park. Took multiple rides on my son's favourite rides: Tower of Terror, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Grizzly River Run, etc. We also hit RSR twice - first time 15 minute wait and second time 0 minute (first in line).

I get through the must-do rides (once to thrice) in the morning then grab as many fast passes as possible to return to in the evening. There are no short line-ups in the evenings for regular standby - we went in May and October so tried to select "less crowded" times. Our trip in May was less crowded than our trip in October. Also, getting a head start on the popular rides in the morning means we can have an afternoon nap and avoid the mid-day heat - this was helpful this past week but we are not accustomed to this type of weather. Mornings were very pleasant though.

I also like how close the on-site hotels are but I guess you can get that with an off-site hotel/inn as well. Yes, the extra $$$ could be used towards another trip but my son loves Disney and that is the main reason I am focusing on Disney as our vacation destination of choice. My son loves Hawaii, Oceania, etc. but Disney is obviously his favourite.

 

[rramstad]

There will be lots of people there for MM any day of the week. Don't expect to show up 5 min before MM begins and have no lines to get in. So any day that you use it, make sure to arrive 20-30 min before MM begins and you should be fine.

Ditto in that it's super important to get there early enough that you are in the front at MM. It makes a HUGE difference if you are in the first five or ten cars on Peter Pan vs. behind a few hundred people... the timing on everything just gets thrown off completely and it can cut the number of rides during the MM in half just because you arrived 5 minutes before gate opening instead of 25 minutes before gate opening.

 

[rramstad]

I also like how close the on-site hotels are but I guess you can get that with an off-site hotel/inn as well.

Our room at GCH took substantially longer to get to and from than our room at Ramada Maingate. In terms of linear distance, the GCH room was closer, but once you add the time in the elevator and the time walking through the various corridors and hallways, the Ramada Maingate was closer... and it's not even all that close in terms of offsite hotels, BWPPI is closer yet, as are a few other hotels.

YMMV, of course, but I'm just agreeing with this poster, the on site hotels are close, but you can in fact find off site hotels that are closer, or similarly close, with a little shopping.